plaintext

noun

plain·​text ˈplān-ˌtekst 

: the intelligible form of an encrypted text or of its elements compare ciphertext

Examples of plaintext in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At least not in the context of aggregated criminal databases containing 16 billion login credentials, or even the recent news of 184 million plaintext passwords found online. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

Because hashing algorithms works in one direction, the only way to obtain the corresponding plaintext is to guess, a process that can require large amounts of time and computational resources. —Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2024

Yep, a whopping great database packed full of plaintext passwords, email addresses, and usernames all sitting there unprotected, in plaintext, for anyone to use. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025

Each record included an ID tag for the type of account, a URL for each website or service, and then usernames and plaintext passwords. —Matt Burgess, Wired News, 22 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for plaintext

• complexed
• deflexed
• perplexed
• pretext
• reflexed
• subtext
• ciphertext
• hypertext
• multiplexed
• teletext
• flexed
• next